2018 was a busy year for South Shore entertainers

Dana Barbuto The Patriot Ledger

Sunday

Jan 6, 2019 at 11:27 AM

Looking back at 2018, the South Shore boasted an active entertainment scene. There was a Grammy nomination, high-profile film shoots, best-selling books, hit musicals, a monster blockbuster, and more. Our entertainers really upped the ante in 2018. Here is a flashback:

The South Shore was again the backdrop for a pair of high-profile Hollywood movies. Oscar-nominee Greta Gerwig’s star-studded adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic “Little Women,” was shot in and around Boston, including stops in Stoughton. It is scheduled for release Dec. 25. The cast of “Little Women” includes Emma Watson, Meryl Streep, Timothee Chalamet, Laura Dern, Chris Cooper and Saoirse Ronan. Film crews were also in Weymouth and Braintree in November to shoot the Mark Wahlberg drama, “Wonderland,” an adaptation of Robert Parker's private detective novel. Oscar-winner Alan Arkin co-stars.

In February, Danilo Pérez of Quincy, a Panamanian jazz great and artistic director of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute, was named a 2018 United States Artists Fellow. Pérez is one of 45 artists and collectives selected to receive the $50,000 award.

In March, the terrific teen thriller “Thoroughbreds” hit theaters. The film, starring Olivia Cooke and Anya Taylor-Joy, was mostly shot at The Oaks, a majestic Georgian Revival mansion in Cohasset.

Quincy’s Mike Mitchell appeared on multiple episodes of the Netflix comedy “Love” in March and did voice work on the Amazon Prime cartoon “Little Big Awesome.”

The film “Chappaquiddick” opened in April and featured Canton’s Andria Blackman as Joan Kennedy, the ex-wife of Sen. Ted Kennedy (Jason Clarke).

Academy Award-winning actor and Kingston resident Chris Cooper and his wife, best-selling author Marianne Leone, were executive producers on “Intelligent Lives,” a documentary they brought to film festivals across the country, including April’s Independent Film Festival in Boston. In December, their film screened to a sold-out audience at Plimoth Cinema. The movie, narrated by Cooper, profiled three young people with intellectual disabilities navigating high school, college and careers.

Aerosmith frontman (and Marshfield’s favorite son) Steven Tyler was the subject of the May documentary “Out on a Limb,” directed by Bridgewater’s Casey Tebo. Tyler owns homes in Nashville, Maui and Sunapee, N.H., but says he has a fondness for his Marshfield pad, telling Parade last spring that the South Shore was his “main digs for 30 years.” “Out on a Limb” is available on video on demand and streaming services.

In May, Showtime greenlit “City on a Hill,” a Boston crime drama written and created by Quincy native – and former Patriot Ledger intern – Chuck MacLean. The 12-episode series will premiere later this year, and stars Kevin Bacon (“Black Mass”) and Aldis Hodge (“Underground”). Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are executive producers; Michael Cuesta (“American Assassin”) directed the pilot.

A ninth helping of “Wahlburgers” – the reality show about the Hingham burger eatery and the Wahlberg family that owns it – was served in June on A&E. The Emmy-nominated series continued to follow a recipe of mixing food and family as brothers Mark, Donnie and Paul Wahlberg grow their burger empire and dial up unscripted shenanigans. Wahlburgers opened in the Hingham Shipyard in 2011 and has expanded to Toronto and several locations across America.

July saw the publishing of “12: The Inside Story of Tom Brady's Fight for Redemption,” a chronicle of Deflategate and Tom Terrific’s super comeback. The book, written by Marshfield’s Casey Sherman and Milton’s Dave Wedge, is slated for a movie adaptation with the authors as executive producers.

That same month, the locally shot “Equalizer 2” starring Denzel Washington opened. It included a cameo by Marshfield Police Chief Phil Tavares (playing a state trooper) and featured such South Shore landmarks as Brant Rock, the quaint village where the film’s grand finale shootout unfolds.

And Stoughton’s Lori McKenna, a Grammy-winning songwriter (“Girl Crush”) released “The Tree,” her 11th album. It went on to snag the No. 5 spot on the Washington Post’s best of the year. McKenna also is a credited writer on the haunting power ballad “Always Remember Us This Way,” penned for the hit movie “A Star is Born” and sung by Lady Gaga. McKenna was nominated for a Grammy Award in December for best country song for writing “When Someone Stops Loving You” for Little Big Town. The Grammys will air Feb. 10 on CBS.

July also saw the Tedeschi Trucks Band, featuring Norwell’s blues-rocker Susan Tedeschi, treat local fans to a performance at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield. They also closed out the year with a string of shows in December at the Orpheum. The band hits the road again for 24 dates this summer on its fifth-annual Wheels of Soul tour.

August was a busy month for comedian Rob Corddry (“Warm Bodies”), a 1989 graduate of Weymouth North High School. First, he hit the small screen for the fourth season of HBO’s football comedy, “Ballers,” then popped up as part of the ensemble for the cute canine-inspired romance, “Dog Days.” Next up for Corddry is the dark comedy “Benjamin,” directed by Bob Saget.

Milton native Jenny Slate had a monster hit on her hands in October with the comic-book flick “Venom,” the No. 1 film at the box office for two consecutive weeks. Starring Tom Hardy as the title character, the film has earned $855 million to date worldwide. Slate played Dr. Dora Skirth, a scientist at the Life Foundation, a biotech run by the nefarious Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed). Slate was valedictorian of her Milton Academy class in 2000. Slate also appeared opposite Jodie Foster in June’s “Hotel Artemis.” Later this year, Slate will lend her voice to reprise her part as Gidget the bouncy Pomeranian in “The Secret Life of Pets 2.” She’ll also play the lead in “The Sunlight Night,” a romance opposite Zach Galifianakis.

Actor Steve Carell, who owns the Marshfield Hills General Store, had a busy fall with major parts in “Beautiful Boy” (playing a devoted father to a drug-addicted son), “Welcome to Marwen” (as beating victim Mark Hogancamp – the subject of the 2010 documentary “Marwencol”), and “Vice” (as Donald Rumsfeld to Christian Bale’s Dick Cheney”). Carell, who is married to Cohasset actress-writer Nancy Walls Carell, also scored a December gig as the host of “Saturday Night Live.”

In October, Brockton’s Pooch Hall stepped back into Darryl Donovan’s shoes on the sixth season of the Showtime drama “Ray Donovan. Cohasset High grad Kate Bosworth starred in the apocalyptic drama “The Domestics” and in the National Geographic series “The Long Road Home.” She also teamed with director husband Michael Polish on “Nona,” a series about human trafficking. Bosworth can next be seen in Netflix’s sci-fi series “The I-Land,” on which she will star and produce.

The blockbuster musical “Hamilton” was the hottest ticket in town in October and featured sets designed by Mansfield’s David Korins. Brockton’s Jacob Guzman danced in the ensemble and Winchester’s Nick Christopher played Aaron Burr, nearly stealing the show as Alexander Hamilton’s longtime rival.

Emmy-winning writer and Scituate native Peter Tolan (“The Larry Sanders Show,” “Rescue Me”) was assigned to write and be showrunner on the revival of “Mad About You,” which reunites original stars Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt.

Plainville author Jeff Kinney released “The Meltdown” in October. The book is the 13th entry in his wildly popular “Wimpy Kid” franchise, a young-adult series that focuses on Greg Heffley, a wisecracking kid trying to survive middle school. Since 2007, the books have sold more than 200 million copies, and the series has been the basis for four movies.

Whitman-Hanson graduate Jennifer Ellis continued to make a splash on the Boston theater scene. Ellis played the lead in the SpeakEasy Stage Company’s production of the romantic-comedy “Shakespeare in Love.” She also wowed audiences in Reagle Music Theater’s “The Music Man.”

In November, Canton’s Bill Burr co-starred as a Miami Herald reporter getting a scoop on the Gary Hart sex scandal in “The Front Runner,” featuring Hugh Jackman as the ex-senator.

In December, pop star Ariana Grande's “Thank U, Next” took over the planet, thanks to an assist from Norwell native Jennifer Coolidge, who appears in the video, reprising her iconic role as Paulette from “Legally Blonde.” Coolidge (Stifler’s mom from the “American Pie” movies) is a graduate of Norwell High School. She’s also appeared in “Best in Show,” “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,” “Gentlemen Broncos” and the TV sitcom “2 Broke Girls.”

Fast forward 2019

Here’s a few to keep on your radar:

Kingston actor Chris Cooper is in position to have a busy Oscar season this year. The Academy Award winner is filming two prestige projects, “Little Women” (opening Dec. 25) and the Mr. Rogers biopic “Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” (Oct. 18).

Weymouth actor Nate Corddry (brother of Rob) will co-star as playwright Neil Simon in the eight-episode, limited-series “Fosse/Verdon.” The FX show will focus on choreographer Bob Fosse’s (Sam Rockwell) professional and romantic relationship with actress Gwen Verdon (Michelle Williams).

Quincy-based punk rockers Dropkick Murphys have announced a 22-date tour in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. Kick off is Feb. 17 with a show in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. The tour closes out with four concerts in Boston, March 14-17. The band got its start in 1996 in the basement of a Wollaston barber shop.

Season 2 of “The Tick,” created by Pembroke native Ben Edlund, returns to Amazon later this year. Edlund first drew the comic in 1986 while a senior at Silver Lake Regional High School. He developed it into a comic book for New England Comics when he was in college. Edlund was also a writer for the hit dramas “Gotham,” “Angel” and “Supernatural.”

Will Quincy native Peter Del Vecho become the city’s first two-time Oscar-winner? He just might be if the animated princess tale “Frozen 2” – due out Nov. 22 – wins the Academy Award next year for best animated film. Del Vecho is back as the sequel’s producer with Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck again directing. Del Vecho graduated from Quincy High in 1976.

Dana Barbuto may be reached at dbarbuto@patriotledger.com or follow her on Twitter @dbarbuto_Ledger.